Creative Operations, Marketing Workflow, Marketing Project Managment

This article originally appeared on the MediaValet blog and we think our readers will find it informative. The tremendous growth of web-based collaborative tools and file-sharing platforms has led to people wondering what exactly the difference is between these kinds of solutions. More specifically, what’s the difference between a digital asset management solution (DAM) and a tool like Microsoft SharePoint? Secondary to that: if you have one, do you need the other? With some overlapping features and capabilities, it’s understandable that there’s some confusion.

Too often, businesses spend significant amounts of money on content infrequently utilized, before being archived and forgotten about forever. Managing your content like this is both ineffective and illogical: It’s like ordering a three-course dinner but only eating half of the starter.

The idea of digital asset management (DAM) has come a long way since the early days of simple filesharing. We’ve moved on from the days of popping something onto a flash drive and passing it around the office. Now, in the age of metadata and semantic databases, we’ve got a much more efficient and effective way of managing digital assets. But the thing with evolution is that it continues, especially when you’re looking at the advances in technology. This is part two of one, read part one here!

As consumers, we experience a non-stop barrage of messages; from watching television and surfing the web, to checking our smartphones. While many of these messages are from friends, colleagues and acquaintances, we’re also being marketed to; enticing ads popping up (a sunny beach when we’re trudging through the rain), designed to make us spend our hard-earned money.

In a relatively short space of time, consumer tastes and demands have shifted dramatically. We now live in a world that is so much more connected and socially active than any time previously, and this has changed how brands must market themselves.

In today’s omni-channel marketing environment one of the leading challenges for brands is consistency; Consistency of messaging, of content, and ultimately of the customer experience. All of these elements should work together to help attract new customers and retain loyal shoppers — something aided by consistent messaging.